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Portrait of a Young Lady in Profile

Creator

French Artist · 1753–1809

Orphaned at an early age, Henri-Pierre Danloux was raised by his uncle, an architect. Around 1770 he studied under a genre painter and a history painter. He followed one of them to Rome in 1775 and then traveled throughout Italy. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Danloux preferred drawing the Roman countryside and portraits instead of ancient monuments. Settling in Lyon, France, in 1783, Danloux

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Date: about 1783–1785
Medium: Black chalk and gray wash
Culture: French
Department: Drawings
Institution: Getty Museum

Taking advantage of the medium's unsurpassed ability to capture spontaneity, Henri-Pierre Danloux caught the youth and vivacity of his young, unknown sitter with great freedom and expressiveness. Smiling with parted lips, the young woman exhibits her elegant profile and bright eyes. An exuberant, soft mane of hair; a wide wreath of a stiffened, ruffled collar; and a lively striped sleeve and bodice surround her smooth, meticulously finished and delicately modeled face. An artfully disarrayed ribbon catches the rich black chalk curlicues of hair. Interspersed with the brilliant white paper, the softly modulated applications of gray wash underneath the hair and costume create a sense of glowing from within her young, clear skin. Danloux was as interested in capturing the young woman's inner world of thought and feeling as he was in representing her outward appearance. Her intense forward gaze hints at a strong personality. He may have made this portrait as one of a series of family portraits.

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